Assessment of luggage compartment parameters based on the preferences of a heterogeneous driver group

ArticleThis work deals with the assessment of driver preferences in the area of passenger car luggage compartments. The data collected is compared to that of real vehicles from the full range of passenger cars available on the European market. The data used for the research described in this work was obtained using a questionnaire survey on a large heterogeneous group of drivers in the Czech Republic. All of the research participants had three categories of vehicles available during testing - for better imagination and the possibility of personal comparison of parameters. The collected data was subsequently subjected to statistical evaluation, where mainly statistically significant dependencies in the preferences of individual drivers were sought out given their personal and anthropometric parameters. On the basis of the statistical evaluation of the obtained data, a difference was found in the preferences of the types and dimensions of the individual luggage compartments for the individual respondents depending on the selected parameters. The results of this work can be used in the process of designing luggage compartments of passenger cars, in particular with regard to the specific needs of drivers. The results of the work could thus contribute to improving the safety in handling cargo in the luggage compartments of vehicles and to improving health protection

Assessment of the actual hand position on the steering wheel for drivers of passenger cars while driving

ArticleThis work deals with the assessment of the actual position of the hands on the steering wheel of drivers of passenger cars in specific driving modes. The findings are compared with the location that is generally considered to be optimal in terms of both active and passive safety, and the long - term effects on the health of the driver. The research desc ribed in this work was carried out on a sample of randomly selected drivers in the Czech Republic. For all of the measurements, one identical neutral passenger middle - class vehicle, with which none of the test subjects had previous experience, was selected . The reason for this research was to model a normal situation where the driver controls a vehicle with his hands on the steering wheel in a position that is only the result of his or her own intuition and the subjective sense of the driver’s comfort. On t he basis, of a statistical evaluation of the obtained data, it was found that the introductory hypothesis, which states that a significant part of the tested sample of drivers holds the steering wheel in an unsuitable manner, can be confirmed. This fact ne gatively impacts not only on the reduction of active and passive safety, but also affects the health of drivers who drive a large amount of kilometres annually. The results of this work can be used in the design of cabs and modern passenger car systems tha t will be able to motivate the driver to hold the steering wheel in an optimal way. This will directly affect road safety and positively influence the health of drivers

Defining rural areas of Visegrad countries

The article is focused on the introduction and categorization of various approaches to rurality, and the identification and delimitation of rural areas in Visegrad countries. Three substantively different groups of conceptualizations and definitions of rural and rurality are described as follows: functional definitions, rural as locality (political-economic approaches), and social representation. Latter, basic sorts of methods and appro - aches to the delimitation of rural areas in V4 countries are introduced emphasizing its historical development, differences in spatial level and criteria of delimitation in current research. Due to different nature of rural areas and even local administrative units (the basic units usually used for delimitation of rural areas), it is not possible to reach sufficient and reliable identification of rural areas for whole V4 area using any of criteria or definitions applied in the research at national levels. Therefore, the average population density of entire V4 area was used as a main criterion for distinguishing between urban and rural LAU 2 at the whole Visegrad area level. Such approach is also affected by generalization but it captures various conditions in each country relatively well and moreover, it is comparable with the OECD and European Union methods to some extent

Holding the wheel in passenger cars in countries with driving on the right and left side depending on the driver’s side preference

ArticleThis paper deals with the assessment of the differences in how passenger car drivers hold a steering wheel with left and right-side steering in specific driving modes. The findings are compared to the generally-accepted optimal position in terms of active and passive safety, as well as long-term effects on the health of the driver. The research described in this work was conducted on a sample of randomly selected drivers in the Czech Republic, the UK and Australia using electronic questionnaires. The data was then subjected to a statistical evaluation, which looked primarily at the difference between the way in which the steering wheel was held in countries with driving on the right and driving on the left. Another parameter for statistical data evaluation was the used side preference of individual drivers. On the basis of a statistical evaluation of the obtained data, it was found that there is a difference in the way the steering wheel is held in the assessed traffic situations between drivers driving on the right and drivers driving on the left. The results of this work can be used in the design process of passenger car cabins, in particular in the field of adaptation of the control devices of particular models to the needs of drivers in individual countries based on the type of traffic. The results of the work point out the necessity to make innovations in the design of passenger car cabins with regard to the type of traffic in which the vehicle will be operated, which could lead to a better application of innovations, and thereby better possibilities of positively influencing traffic safety and the health of drivers

Nondemolition measurements of a single quantum spin using Josephson oscillations

We consider a Josephson junction containing a single localized spin 1/2 between conventional singlet superconducting electrodes. We study the spin dynamics and measurements when a dc-magnetic field ${\bf B}\parallel z$ acts on the spin and the junction is embedded into a dissipative circuit. We show that when tunneling or a voltage are turned on at time $t=0$ the Josephson current starts to oscillate with an amplitude depending on the initial ($t=0$) value of the spin $z$-component, $S_z= \pm 1/2$. At low temperatures, when effects of quasiparticles may be neglected, this procedure realizes a quantum-non-demolition (QND) measurement of $S_z$.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; average value of spin z operator changed to eigenvalue S_

Mesoscopic effects in superconductor-ferromagnet-superconductor junctions

We show that at zero temperature the supercurrent through the superconductor - ferromagnetic metal - superconductor junctions does not decay exponentially with the thickness $L$ of the junction. At large $L$ it has a random sample-specific sign which can change with a change in temperature. In the case of mesoscopic junctions the phase of the order parameter in the ground state is a random sample-specific quantity. In the case of junctions of large area the ground state phase difference is $\pm \pi/2$.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Propagation of gravity waves and spread F in the low-latitude ionosphere over Tucumán, Argentina, by continuous Doppler sounding: first results

Results of systematic analysis of propagation directions and horizontal velocities of gravity waves (GWs) and spread F structures in low-latitude ionosphere (magnetic inclination ~27°) in Tucumán region, Argentina, are presented. Measurements were carried out by multipoint continuous Doppler system during 1 year from December 2012 to November 2013. It was found that meridian propagation of GWs dominated and that southward propagation prevailed in the local summer. Oblique spread structures observed in Doppler shift spectrograms and associated with spread F propagated roughly eastward at velocities from ~70 to ~180 m/s and were observed at night from ~ September to ~ March. The velocities were computed for 182 events and the azimuths for 64 events. Continuous Doppler sounding makes it possible to analyze more events compared to optical observations often used for propagation studies since the measurements do not depend on weather.Fil: Chum, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Miranda Bonomi, Fernando Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fišer, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Cabrera, M. A.. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Tucuman; ArgentinaFil: Ezquer, Rodolfo Gerardo. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Tucuman; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Ionosfera; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Burešová, D.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Laštovička, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Baše, J.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Hruška, F.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República ChecaFil: Molina, Maria Graciela. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ise, Juan Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cangemi, José Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Electricidad, Electrónica y Computación. Laboratorio de Telecomunicaciones; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Šindelářová, T.. Institute of Atmospheric Physics; República Chec